By hannah



0. ASHTON, DECD.

H. ASHTON. EXECUTRIX.

APPARATUS FOR USE IN ASSEMBLING SOLES 0N LASTS.

APPLICATION FlLED FEB.15.I916- Patented Aug. 12, 1919.

zmz Maw M; 0% J WW UNITED s'rA'r s PATENT OFFICE.

ORRELL Asnron, DECEASED, LATE on swAM'PsooT'r, MASsACHU's-ErTs', BYHANNAH ASHTON, EXEoU'rnIX, 0 SWAMPSCOTT', ivrnssnonnsnrrs, AssIenon, BYMEsnE ASSIGNMENTS, T0 UnrrEn SHOE MACHINERY conronnr'ion, or PAT'Enson,NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION on NEW JERSEY.

APPARATUS FOR. UsE I1\T AssEMBLINe some on LAs'rs.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 12, 1919;

Application filed February 15, 1916. Serial No. 783521.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that ORRELL AsHroN, deceased, late of Swampscott, in thecounty of- EsseX and State of Massachusetts, invented certainImprovements in Apparatus for Use in Assembling Soles on Lasts, of whichthe following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings,is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicatinglike parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to the manufacture of shoes andmore particularlyto means for securing greater accuracy and effecting economy inshoemaking. The soles of good turn shoes consist of high-grade leatherof the most expensive quality. One object of this invention is toprovide means to assist an operative in placing a sole on a last,preparatory to assembling the upper therewith, with its edge in propersymmetrical relation to the edge of the last so that the shoe can becorrectly shaped over the sole. Another object is to insure the placingof the sole on the last so that a minimum of sole edge trimming shallhave to be done and therefore a minimum of waste of valuable stock shalloccur in finishing the shoe.

A feature of the invention consists in means constructed and arranged toengage the work at a plurality of points for positioning a solesymmetrically relatively to an end of a last. The illustrativeembodiment of the invention comprises feelers with which the last andthe sole may be brought into engagement at opposite sides of the end ofthe toe. and also at the end of the toe. These feelers compriserelatively adjustable niembers for engaging, respectively, the side faceof the last and the edge of the sole to adapt the apparatus for turnshoe work, the sole edge member determining the extent of pro jection ofthe sole edge beyond the edge .of the last. With each feeler is alsopreferably associated a finger to engage with the top face of the soleto assist the operator in using theapparatus.

Another feature of the invention consists in the organization of theapparatus for ad justment of a plurality of: feelers together.

As shown, opposed side feelers, which are" arrangedfor engagementwiththe work at thecorners of the toe, and an intermediate,

teeler, which is located? to engage the end of the toe, are mounted onrelatively movable supports which are connected for movement of twofeelers together for adaptation to the size of the work. A spring isarranged to hold the feelers in anormal position from which they may bespreadby engagement with the work; and, for alternative use, a bindingscrew isaarranged to secure the feelers in definite adjusted relation.

A further feature of the invention consists in the combination with solelocating means of means cooperating therewith to secure the sole in thecorrect location on the last.

The invention will be. more fully explained in connection with theaccompanying drawings and will then be pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a side elevation showing this invention applied to an insoletackingmachine.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the new mechanism, and

Fig. is a sectional view illustrating a use of the invention.-

The illustrative apparatus comprises a standard 1 which may be supportedby a bracket extending laterally from the post of a tacking machine suchas that shown; in

United States Letters Patent No.- 1,106,393, granted Aug. 11, 1914,- onapplication of Fred L. Mackenzie. The head of the standard consists oflongitudinal and transverse arms 2, 3, 4t and 5. The longitudinal arms 3and 5 contain a guideway in which is slidingly mounted a bar 6 the frontendof which constitutes the last engaging member of the toe end feeler.Upon the front endof the bar 6 is located a' block 8 which constitutesthe sole edge engaging member of that feeler. The last engaging member 6and the sole engaging member 8- are each tapered to narrow bearing facesat their work engaging ends. The block has a longitudinal slot and iscon-fined in adjusted position by a binding screw 10 and a cap plate 12which has depending flanges embracing the' block and the bar 6 and theforward end ofwhich is extended to form fingers that overlie and en gagethe margin of the sole.

' The transverse arms 2 and. 4 pivotally support anglelevers lp thefrontarms of exact are bent iuwaruia to" engage the @01 ners of the toesubstantially normal to its curvature at those points, said armsconstituting the last engaging members of the corner feelers. Thesefeelers are constructed like the toe end feeler above described.

The other arms of the angle levers 16 are overlapped at their ends, theupper one being provided with a slot through which extends upwardly astud 18 carried by the lower arm. A tension spring 20 extends from stud18 baekwardly to a stud 22 in the rear end of the bar 6 and is adaptedto hold the three feelers in normal proximity. The lower end of stud 22depends below bar 6 and acts as a stop to limit forward movement of thatbar.

One of the levers 16 has an areuate slot through which a binding screw25 extends and is threaded into the arm 4: of the machine head. Thisbinding screw can be used if desired to hold the side feelers in anydetached to an insole tacking machine in such position upon the lastbottom.

position that it can be engaged by a shoe presented to the nozzle 30 ofthe tacker, and the operative takes a last and a turn shoe sole in hishands, places the sole with its toe end extending beyond the toe end ofthe last farther than the normal projection and thrusts the work intothe feelers, being guided as to vertical position by the fingers 12. Asthe work engages the feelers they center the toe of the sole on the lastand push it back to where it presents the normal projection beyond theedge of the last for which blocks 8 are set. With the work in thisposition at the toe the operative positions the heel end of the sole onthe heel of the last and then presents the shoe to the nozzle 30 of theinsole tacker from which a tack is driven by driver 32 into the forepartof the sole for securing the sole in adjusted The shoe is then shiftedand a second tack driven into the shank to secure the rear part of thesolo in position. Instead of combining the sole locating apparatus witha tacking machine as above described so that the apparatus can positionand hold the sole while the tacker fastens it, many of the advantages ofthis invention may be obtained by locating the apparatus more remotefrom the tacker where the operative will first present the work to saidapparatus and then transfer the work to tacking position while holdingthe sole in proper location on the last. Alternatively the last may besupported in operative relation to the sole locating apparatus and thetacking performed by hand.

Having explained the nature of the invention and described how it may beenibodied in useful form and employed, 1 claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States 1. An apparatus for use inassembling soles on lasts having, in combination, a last engagingmember, a superposed sole edge engaging member, a sole margin engagingmember, and means for securing the last engaging member and the soleedge engaging member in relation to locate a sole so that it willproject a predetermined distance outside of the edge of the last.

2. An apparatus for use in assembling soles on lasts having, incombination, a last enga, ;in,c member, a superposed sole edge engagingmember, a sole margin engaging member, means for securing the lastengaging member and the sole edge engaging member in relation to locatea sole relatively to the edge of the last, and means to fasten the soleto the last while the sole is in engagement with said means.

3. An apparatus for use in assembling soles on lasts having, incombination, means presenting three bearing faces to. engage a lastaround the toe, means carried by said first named means presenting threebearing faces to engage a sole edge around the toe and to position thesole relatively to the last, and means for securing said sole and lastengaging means together in relatively ad justed positions to permit apredetermined projection of the sole beyond the edge of the last atthree points.

4. An apparatus for use in assembling soles on lasts comprising a feelerhaving a member to engage the side face of a last locally atsubstantially a point, and carrying a member located above the lastengaging member and back from its edge to engage the edge face of a soleprojecting outside the edge of the last, and a member overlying the soleedge engaging member and extending forwardly beyond the last engagingmember to project over the margin of the sole, said member beingprovided with a sight opening to reveal to the operator the location ofthe sole edge relatively to the sole edge engaging member,

5. An apparatus for use in assembling soles on lasts comprising acarrier, three yielding feelers thereon arranged to engage the end andthe two corners of the toe at points spaced apart, each 'feeler having alast side engaging face and a sole edge engaging face, and means forSecuring thesole and last together. 7

6. An apparatus for use in assembling soles on lasts comprising acarrier, three yielding feelers thereon arranged to engage the end andthe two corners of the toe at points spaced apart, each feeler having alast side engaging face and a sole edge engaging face which arerelatively adjustable to secure different relations of the edges of thesole and the last, and a tacker disposed in relation to the shoe toinsert a tack through the sole into the last.

7. An apparatus for use in assembling soles on lasts comprising a rriand th feelers thereon arranged to engage the end and the two corners ofthe toe at points spaced apart, movable connections between the feelersand the carrier, and means holding said feelers normally toward eachother and permitting relative yielding movement of the feelers by a lastand sole thrust between them to adapt them to act on toes of differentwidths upon manual presentation of the shoe by the operator.

8. An apparatus for use in assembling soles on lasts comprising threefeelers aranged to engage a toe at its end and opposite corners andmounted for movement in directions approximately normal to thecontacting surfaces, and means yieldingly holdin the feelers toward eachother and permitting them to move for adaptation to widths of toes uponmanual presentation of a shoe by the operator.

9. An apparatus for use in assembling soles on lasts comprising soletacking means, three feelers arranged to engage a toe at its end andopposite corners and mounted for movement in directions approximatelynormal to the contacting surfaces and means yieldingly holding thefeelers toward each other and permitting them to move for adaptation towidths. of toes, each feeler comprising a last side engaging membeand asole edge engaging member the acting face of which is located back ofthe acting face of the last engaging member to allow the sole to projectoutside the last.

10. An apparatus for use in assembling soles on lasts comprising deviceseach arranged for engagement by the toe of a sole and the toe of a last,said devices acting at a plurality of points including points located atopposite sides of the toe to center a sole toe on the toe portion of thelast as the work supported in the hands of the operator is thrust intocontact with the devices.

11. An apparatus for use in assembling soles on lasts comprising devicesarranged for engagement by the toe of a sole and the toe of a last, saiddevices acting at a plurality of points including points located atopposite sides of the toe to center a sole toe on the toe portion of thelast as the work supported in the hands of the operator is thrust intocontact with the devices, the sole engagingi devices located at theopposite sides of the toe being constructed and arranged for independentadjustment to permit a predetermined projection of the sole beyond theedge of the last bottom at each corner of the toe.

12. An apparatus for use in assembling soles on lasts comprising acarrier, angle levers fulcrumed at opposite lateral sides of the carrierand having overlapping inwardly extending arms and forwardly extendingarms, feelers mounted on the forward arms to engage a toe and center asole on a last, a pin and slot connection between the inner arms, and aspring holding the angle levers in a normal position relatively.

13. An apparatus for use in assembling soles on lasts comprising acarrier, angle levers fulcrumed at opposite lateral sides of the carrierand having inwardly extending arms and forwardly extending arms, feelersmounted on the latter arms to engage a toe and center a sole on a last,and means acting through the inner arms of the levers to determine thespread of the feelers.

14. An apparatus for use in assembling soles on lasts comprising acarrier, angle.

levers fulcrumed at opposite lateral sides of the carrier and havinginwardly extending arms and forwardly extending arms, feelers mounted onthe latter arms to engage a toe and center a sole on a last, a slidemovable longitudinally between the levers and having a feeler to engagethe toe end of the work, and means to hold the feelers in proximity andallow separation for widths of toes.

15. An apparatus for use in assembling soles on lasts comprising acarrier, angle levers fulcrumed at opposite lateral sides of the carrierand having inwardly extending arms and forwardly extending arms, feelersmounted on the latter arms to engage a toe and center a sole on a last,a slide movable longitudinally between the levers and having a feeler toengage the toe end of the work, andmeans for securing the angle leverswith the feelers carried by them in definite relation.

16. An apparatus for use in assembling soles on lasts comprising acarrier, angle levers fulcrumed at opposite lateral sides of the carrierand having inwardly extending arms and forwardly extending arms, feelersmounted on the latter arms to engage a toe and center a sole on a last,a slide movable longitudinally between the levers and having a feeler toengage the toe end of the work, means for securing the angle levers withthe feelers carried by them in definite relation, and a spring forholding the slide forwardly and permitting it to yield rearwardly underpressure of a toe thrust between the side feelers.

17. An apparatus for use in assembling soles on lasts comprisingyielding devices ar bivranged for engagement by a toe at a plurality ofpoints including polnts located at opposite sides of the toe to center asole toe on the toe portion of the last as the Work is thrust betweenthe devices, a similar yielding device to engage the end of the last anddetermine the projection of the sole at the end of the last, and meansarranged with relation to said devices for fastening the sole to thelast while it is so centered.

18. An apparatus for use in assembling soles on shoes, having solecentering means comprising devices constructed and arranged to engagethe upper and the sole of a shoe at points on opposite sides of the toeand to engage the toe end of the shoe upper and sole, together withmeans including a single spring constructed and arranged to impart ayielding quality to said devices.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

HANNAH ASHTON,

Ewecutm'w of the wiZZ of OWeZZ Ashton, de-

ceased.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G.

